True Light
by Party-King-Thranduil
Summary: Skylia Caffrey is not your typical teenager. She and her older sisters are ingrained within the supernatural, not necessarily by choice. When visiting one of them, she hears talk of her dating a Cullen. Curious as to where she's heard that name before, she follows them only to find herself on a journey she never could have imagined. Fast-paced story. CarlislexOCxEric.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! I've recently gone back to writing after a four-year hiatus, and I figured, what better place to start than here? So, while this is not an actual chapter, it is an introduction to my newest story, True Light. The first chapter of the story starts off with plot immediately, which is why I felt that I should probably introduce the characters more. So, without further ado, here we go!**

****Skylia Caffrey is an OC character who is sister to both Sookie Stackhouse and Bella Swan. Details of this happenstance will happen throughout the story.

She's 16 years old and has a full head of pink hair, though she wears a wig to keep peopl from seeing it.

She works with Eric Northman as a kind of secretary, but she likes to think of herself as his right hand man; this is certainly not the case. She also has another, unknown job which is very important to the human and supernatural world, though few know just how important it truly is.

Before the story starts, Skylia, or Sky for short, has moved to Forks, Washington from Bon Temps, Louisiana on an assignment—to check in on her sister, Bella. Of course, this is a personal assignment, and no one but her boss knows. She's staying in a hotel until she hears rumors of her sister dating one of the Cullen kids. Curious as to where she's heard that name before, she decides to investigate. And, that, is where our story begins.


	2. The Beginning

**Hello again! This story has already been pre-written, so I'll try to keep the updates going every week. However, this is not a promise, and I apologize for that. **

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their prospective owners. I own only my OC.**

**Enjoy the story!**

Making a spur of the moment decision, I decided to follow Bella and her new boy toy to his house. Since they were taking his car, it gave me the perfect opportunity to take her truck. Although it is not the most discreet thing on the planet and goes about as fast as a turtle, it was good enough to get the job done.

Entering the house and seeing no Charlie, I ran up the stairs and stopped in front of her room. I felt the need to tip-toe across the floor as if she were going to jump out at any moment, which was impossible seeing as she was halfway home by now. I grabbed the spare keys from her desk and sped out of there, afraid I'd mess something up, and ran back down the stairs, stumbling over my feet as I went.

Closing and locking the door behind me, I jumped into the front of the car. I saw Edward's silver Volvo and ducked down quickly, hitting my head on the steering wheel.

"Ouch..." I said, rubbing it. I peeked over the seat and saw that they were gone, mentally slapping myself for forgetting that he drove like a maniac. I would need to push this hunk of junk to its limit just to catch up to them.

I jammed the keys into the ignition and turned them, praying to whatever god was up there that it started. I let out a sigh of relief when it groaned to life. I threw it into reverse and backed out of the driveway hastily, trying to make up for lost time.

Before long, I was chugging along behind them, hopefully out of sight. Although from what I see, they were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else around them. _'Jeez, way to take care of my sister, dude. Keep your eyes on the friggin' road!' _I saw him shake slightly and furrowed my eyebrows in question. _'What the heck are you doing now?!'_

I shook my head and focused back on the road. I looked ahead to the Volvo, just in time to see him pull onto a dirt path. I drove up to the edge and watched him drive a little further. I decided to park the car and follow them on foot the rest of the way. I entered the forest, keeping my head up, and followed the red lights until they were turned off.

Giving myself a few minutes for them to enter the house, I looked around as I walked. The trees and bushes that surrounded the area not giving me much satisfaction, I ran to the place where I last saw the lights. I finally stopped in front of a three-story house that consisted of mostly window-walls.

"Wooooow, facny."

I walked up to the steps, debating whether or not I should climb them. Before I knew it, I was already at the door, my hand poised to knock. _'Wait, what am I doing? I'm just supposed to find out where this guy lives, not be stalkerish and invite myself in!'_

I turned around to walk away when an unfortunate leaf decided to place itself underneath my foot, causing me to slip and fall back. I wasn't worried because I knew the door was right behind me, but I started panicking when I felt air followed by a pair of arms. I looked up into the golden eyes of a gorgeous man.

He righted me, and I turned to face him, holding a hand out. "Uhm, hi... You're Carlisle, right?" I didn't wait for conformation before I continued. "How did you hear me?"

I saw a flicker of shock before he smiled. Taking my hand he said, "You knocked, remember?"

I tilted my head to the side, deep in thought. _'I did? Must have been while I was spaced out._' I noticed his concerned face before realizing I had asked aloud. I shook my head slightly, trying to regain my composure.

He looked as if he were waiting for something. My mouth went dry and my heart started beating erratically as I realized I hadn't given my name yet. Insane looking stalker side: 1, Sophisticated grown-up side: 0. "Uhm, yeah, Skylia. Uh, my name, that is." I stumbled over my words, feeling the blood rush to my ears. I quickly pulled my hand away after I noticed I was still shaking his.

"Sorry, I'm not really good with talking to strangers." _'Riiiight, that's why I know your name and you have absolutely no idea who I am.'_

He chuckled lightly. "That's quite alright. Why don't you come on inside?" He motioned with his hand.

"No, I don't really think..."

"Please," he said, cutting me off, "If you drove all this way, it must be important."

"Uh, okay..." I walked passed him and into the living room. I heard the door close behind me, and I turned to see him staring at me expectantly. He smiled and gestured for me to follow him.

_'Oh my goodness, what do I do? This goes against everything I've ever learned. I told him my name, and now I've entered his home! What if he introduces me to his family and they all gang up on me and attack or something like that?! Oh no... What if they make me go shopping? I have to get out of here!'_

I cleared my throat and attempted to give a reason as to why I need to leave ASAP. "Listen, the reason I'm here is because I was following my sister, and I really don't think it's a good idea for her to see me."

_'Or maybe it is. Perhaps she can grant my final wish. Holy crap, I forgot Bella! Is she in on this? Is she okay? Is this even the house she went into?!'_ I couldn't delve any further into my crazy fantasies when I saw Carlisle look at me out of the corner of his eye, smirking. _'What is it with the Cullens and not watching where they are going?!'_

I heard a small chuckle before Carlisle spoke again. "Is that so?" I nodded my head dumbly before I realized he wasn't looking at me anymore.

I saw Bella and quickly made my way to the other side of the wall partition, praying desperately that she didn't see me.

"Who's at the door?" I heard a deep voice ask.

"Well, whoever it was, they felt very nervous. Sort of like they were doing something they weren't supposed to." I saw who said this. He was standing across from me, and I looked away quickly, feeling his eyes burning holes into my head. He was wearing a small smirk whereas the girl standing next to him looked as if she were in a daze. Thankfully, he was the only one who noticed me.

I quickly looked back to Carlisle when he said, "If you would like to meet her, she's right here." I furiously shook my head no, my arms making slashing movements through the air. I had no choice but to jump into view when he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him.

I was now in the view of the others as I stood there slightly gawking, rooted to the spot. I probably looked like a fish at that point. I slightly raised my hand, tilting it to the side. "Uh, howdy..."

A large, buff man who had his arm draped protectively over a beautiful blonde sighed loudly. "Oh great, another Texan."

I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Emmett," I pointed to myself. "Not a Texan. Plus, what's the problem if I was, huh?" I slapped my hands over my mouth in pure amazement that I had been so rude. Mostly it was just to keep myself from saying anything else, whether or not it be idiotic.

I was able to recover and quickly blurted out, _"What I meant was, it's nice to meet you for the first time in my life, and, uh, Texans are cool._

I made a 'What the crap did I just say?' face and averted my eyes to a spot on the kitchen's island counter. I was startled out of my thoughts by a loud, boisterous laugh.

"Well, I don't think I've been talked to like that by anyone other than Rose. You got a lot of spunk, shrimp. I like that." He flashed me what I assumed to be a charming smile and I snorted.

"Gee, thanks." I saw his crestfallen look and let out an exasperated laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry. Be still my beating heart," I said, rolling my eyes back dramatically and placing my hand over said organ.

Whoops. Probably not the right thing to say. I heard another laugh and I turned to the man I saw before. "Jasper, right?" I asked, pointing at him. "Thanks for not ratting me out. Unfortunately, your efforts were for naught seeing as Carlisle here can't read body language to save his life." This time, everyone laughed, making me feel better.

Jasper was the first to speak. "It's nice to see you're feeling better. You were very nervous before. Why is that?"

I looked down sheepishly and I felt the blood rush to my ears as I watched my shuffling feet. So, he's the 'other Texan'. He's got a sexy voice. Ha, I'm crazy. I shook my head and cleared my throat before attempting to speak again. "See, I was secretly following my sister and I—Oh, shnaps!" I snapped my head up and slowly turned it to the side, quite afraid of what I'd find.

I met her eyes for a split second and immediately whipped my head so that I was facing Carlisle again. She was livid. "Well, it's, uh, getting late seeing that it's passed," I looked down at my wrist and silently cursed myself for forgetting that I don't own a watch, "invisible o' clock. I really should be going." I pointed behind me, taking a few baby steps back. My eyes darted everywhere, not landing on any one object. "Uh, bye!"

I quickly turned around and tried to make a break for the door before being tackled to the ground. "Skylia!"

I rolled over so that I was now on my back with Bella sitting on top of me. I felt her fingers probing my side.

"What are you doing here?"

"..." My mouth was open but no sound came out. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I opted for squirming around, slapping my hands and feet on the ground.

I heard a boast of laughter and I looked passed Bella, barely making out Jasper hanging onto the door frame, clutching his stomach. I looked back up to Bella. "...can't...breathe..."

She slowly let up and got to her feet. I stayed on the ground, breathing heavily. "Hah, hah, hah..."

I saw a hand in my view and grabbed it without a second thought. I was pulled up fast, my face coming in contact with a stone hard chest. I looked up and my oncoming blush came to an abrupt halt as I saw Jasper's smirking face. "It's nice to know my pain brings you much amusement."

He rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Oh please, you can't say you didn't enjoy it. Being pinned down like that."

I shook my head and stuck my tongue out childishly. "Meh-meh-meh, whatever." I smiled and looked back up to him, my eyes locking onto his.

It seemed like forever until I was forcefully pulled out of my little wonderland by the clearing of someone's throat. I looked over to my side, a goofy grin no doubt on my face, and saw the rest of the Cullen family standing there. Alice was still in a daze.

Holy schnapsies! Alice! I froze and tried to step back quickly, but a certain force was reluctant to let me go, causing me to snap back to my original position. I looked down to our firmly joined hands and back up to his face desperately.

"Uh, Jasper..?" I tried a couple more times, each resulting in my shuffling back and forth. "Jaaaasperrrr..." I was whining at this point, going so far as to stomp my foot. "Let me gooooo!"

Apparently, I stomped him out of his trance for the next time I pulled back, I was let go. I, however, did not know this, thus causing me to pull harder, figuring I wasn't going to move, and I toppled backward over the couch. I then proceeded to go with the force and flip over the couch, barely missing the glass table, and landed in a sitting position. "Huh." I started playing with the rug beneath my fingers, prodding for a loose strand or a frayed end. "Well, that was...huh."

"Jazz?"

I looked up quickly, afraid to meet anyone's gaze, and saw Alice next to Jasper. I felt hurt and I looked dejectedly to the side. I must have fallen out of a stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down when I was exploring outside if I had forgotten so easily that he was the second half of an extremely happy couple.

I barely registered Carlisle coming over to help me when I threw myself back onto the rug with an exasperated, "Aaugghh!" I flung my hands over my eyes and rocked from side to side. "How could I be so stuuuupid?!" I flipped over onto my stomach and repeatedly thumped my head on my crossed arms. With a final thump and a sigh, my small tantrum was done. "Ugh, I'm such an idiot..."

In another moment I sensed a presence on my right and a slight pressure on my lower back. "Are you alright?"

I froze. I just fell over a couch trying to get away from this guy and he's actually coming over to che—oh, wait. That actually makes sense. But, Carlisle was doing just fine. And, what about Alice? At that thought, I gave a small whimper.

"Sky...lia?" I think I just about died when he said my name. All the signs were there. I couldn't move, I had stopped breathing, and I was pretty sure my heart had sped up a few beats before giving out altogether. I was like vegetable, except for the fact that I had a single thought on replay: Say it again.

"Skylia?"

Aahh... At that moment, I felt my whole body melt to mush, and I finally allowed myself to relax under his touch. That is, until he started moving his hand back and forth soothingly. He was getting dangerously close to my tickle points and I didn't want this beautiful moment to be ruined. I quickly turned over and, I guess, his hand came with me because he now had one on each side, trapping me.

"Uh, hello again." I raised my hand up and twiddled my fingers in a sort of mock waving thing.

He smirked down at me. "What did I tell you?"

I felt the blood rush to my ears again, and now that they were exposed, I was pretty sure he could see them, too. Faster than I could blink, he was away from me and on the other side of the couch, standing where we were just moments ago. Probably going back to Alice. Or it could be my, nah, highly doubt that. Still, it's a possibility.

I hadn't realized how long I was laying on the floor until I heard Emmett's boisterous laugh. "Plan on getting up soon, Sleeping Beauty? It's getting kind of late."

I bolted upright and prayed that my boss wasn't up yet. "How late?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, that really helped." Grabbing the edge of the glass coffee table, I looked over to my side as I hoisted myself up. "Aaaaghh." I gave a quiet scream when I realized someone was sitting in the armchair next to me. Of all the people in the world...

"Are you feeling better now?"

I let out an exasperated sigh. I had an important phone call to make and I couldn't get sidetracked by any distractions. No matter how yummy they looked, especially how unavailable they were.

"Yes, actually, thank you." I gave what I hoped to be a convincing smile and tried to walk around him. I was stopped by a gentle yet firm hand on my arm.

"Why are you lying to me?"

A loud guffaw passed through my lips, hopefully fooling him. "What are you talking about? I'm not lying to yo—ok." I had taken one look at his face and knew I couldn't lie to him. "I'm kinda nervous because I have a very important phone call to make, and I can't get sidetracked no matter how yummy or unavailable.

I saw the tell-tale smirk ghost across his face and I realized I had unintentionally blurted my previous embarrassing thoughts out.

"Don't worry, I shall make sure to stay out of your way."

I gave a snort. "Oh, please, how do you even know it's you I'm talking about?"

"Who else could it be? Jasper?" Gag me. "Emmett?" Uh, no thanks. "Edw-" I slapped my hands over his mouth before taking out the one underneath and slowly shook the pain out of it.

"Please, please, please. I beg you not to finish that thought." I felt him smile under my fingertips, and I gave a small smile back.

He stood up, then, and I was about to get up onto my tippy toes to keep my hand resting where it was when I realized I probably shouldn't. He walked by me and I thought he had finally gone until I felt his breath by my ear. "I'll try not to be too distracting."

I could tell he was wearing that all-too familiar smirk and it took everything in me not to look back at him.

I hardly registered Marilyn Manson's "If I Was Your Vampire" playing and Bella's answering voice before I bolted into the kitchen like someone had just lit a firecracker under my butt. Lo and behold, guess who was in the kitchen as well.

Ignoring him and the smirk that I wanted to smack off of his face, I searched for Bella. She was on the other side of the island. Without a second thought, I jumped on top of it and slid towards her. I grabbed the phone with my right hand as my left grabbed the edge of the counter. The force sent me over the edge, but luckily my foot caught on the adjacent counter. My right foot rested on a white, wine glass cabinet.

"Northman."

I heard a small chuckle before a velvety voice poured through the phone and into my ear. "Last time I checked, that was my name."

I rolled my eyes. Smart aleck. "Listen, Eric," I ground out his name, "I'm not really in the position for idle chit-chat. If you have something important to say, now would be the time."

"Excuse me, Miss Caffrey, but who's the boss here?" I gulped. He only uses my last name if he's really upset. I chose to leave the question unanswered. We both knew who was in charge. "Beside, you look stable enough to hold on for a few minutes."

"What the crud?! How do you know what I'm doing?" I tried to look around, but I was too afraid that I was going to topple over. I lifted my head, attempting to crane my neck, but that only resulted in a serious cramp. I let my head hang to its original position so that my view was now only of the ceiling.

"I wouldn't suggest moving around like that. Knowing you, there is no doubt in my mind that you would fall."

I started to panic a little. "Okay, how are you doing that?!" I slightly bounced up and down to relieve my stress.

I felt a slight breeze on my right side before someone breathed, "I'm right here," in my ear.

"What the mother-?" I cried before I toppled over to the left. I waited for the impact with the ground, but it never came. I opened my eyes, not even realizing I had closed them, to see what had stopped my fall.

I felt an arm under my bent right arm, while a second arm was holding up my left leg. My right leg was hanging toward the ground while my left arm was stretched up above my head. From an outsider's point of view, it must have looked like some absurd ballet move.

I looked down at my leg again. Hmm, either I'm really short or the person who caught me is super tall if my foot isn't even remotely close to the ground. Could be both.

I felt a rumble on my back and I could tell the person behind me was now laughing. "What's going on with your emotions, darlin'? First, you were scared outta your wits and now all I can feel is intense curiosity. What's gotten you so captivated?"

"Why in the heck we keep meeting this way," I mumbled, completely skipping over and ignoring the fact he just called 'darlin''.

I felt another rumble and silently berated myself for forgetting his super-hearing. It was a few seconds before I realized something. "Where is everybody?" Even Bella had disappeared somewhere.

"Well, wherever they were, they're back now." It was true, for I soon heard the Cullen family enter the kitchen.

"Ah, there he is," I heard Carlisle say, and I immediately assumed he was talking about Jasper. Well, you know what they say when you assume, because in the next minute I felt like an ass when he finished up with, "Mr. Northman, it's so nice to see you again."

I slumped in Jasper's arms, causing me to realize that I still hadn't moved from that position. I froze up again when I continued to realize that he had just seen the previous exchange, and in this position! Oh, I was soooo going to get it tonight.

I looked up cautiously towards Eric, but I found he had turned away from me, and, instead, was now facing Carlisle and Co.

I heard Jasper softly ask if I was okay and I nodded, making a hand motion toward the floor. He set me down lightly and I righted myself, ready to meet my doom. I tuned into his conversation just in time to hear, "I see you've met Jasper."

Eric looked at the man in question out of the corner of his eye. "We've met before."

"You have?!" I blurted out.

Eric turned so that he was now fully facing me. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed in concentration, although it was invisible to anyone else's eyes. "Yes, you've met him, too. Don't you remember?"

I stared at him with a blank look on my face. "Heh?"

His lips broke into a huge smirk. "Perhaps a certain word will jog your memory, Ms. Sparklepire."

I gasped in recognition as the memories came flooding back to me. "Oh, no." I brought my hands up to my face in shame and shook my head.

I looked at Jasper, placing a hand on his arm. "Sweetie, I am so sorry. First for calling you, well, that," I shot a playful glare at Eric, whose smirk had seem to fallen and his eyes glued to Jasper's arm where my hand lay, "and that I seemed to have forgotten meeting you. I'm usually very good with faces."

Suddenly, I heard a low growl and felt a force push me back, causing me to fall back into Eric's arms. I looked up and saw Alice clutching Jasper possessively.

"I have had enough!" she said, enraged. "I have been seeing visions of you and Jasper come true all day, and this is the last straw." She looked at me, her piercing eyes full of fury. "I will NOT have you kissing my husband!"

I felt the blood rush to my ears and were it not for Eric's vice-like grasp, I would have fallen to the floor. "K-k-kissing?!" I brought my hand up to my mouth and shook my head violently. "I-I don't th-think s-so."

I felt Eric's laugh before I heard it, and I looked up at him, seeing his eyes full of mirth. "What?" The word came out muffled and I quickly took my hand away.

"You are so innocent sometimes."

"Well, excuuuuuse me," I said with a roll of my eyes and the crossing of my arms, "It's not my fault I'm only 16."

A chorus of, "You're only 16?!" rang out around the room and I laughed lightly.

I opened my mouth to say something but was beaten to it. "Oh yeah, that reminds me." I saw Bella walking towards us and I dug myself deeper into Eric's arms, closing them around my body. "Mr. Northman, is it? Do you mind letting my sister go?" I shook my head and pulled his arms impossibly tighter.

I looked at her and seeing how angry she was, I started to mumble, "Nononononono.."

Eric chuckled again before speaking, "Sorry Lover, but I have to call the club and check on Pam."

My heart immediately went out to her. "Oh, poor Pam. You know how much she hates to be left alone at the door."

He sent a smirk in my direction. "Why do you think I do it so often?"

I smacked his arm and looked up at him with false disgust. "You're so evil." I felt his arms tighten around me, lifting me off of the ground.

Depositing me on a nearby chair and with a parting, "I try," he was gone. I slowly turned to face the wrath that has been yet to be brought upon me.

I took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself and spoke. "So, Bella, there's a perfectly good explan-"

"What. Were you doing. Driving. My truck." She spat out each segment, cutting me off viciously. I didn't answer for I knew there was more to come. "You are only 16, Sky. You can't be driving around, no matter how good you are it. What would happen if you got pulled over?"

I raised an eyebrow. Is she seriously trying to threaten me by saying our dad could possibly arrest me? I could only imagine Charlie's face as he read me my Miranda rights. Fat chance of that ever happening.

"Do not raise your eyebrow at me, young lady."

"Excuuuuuse me?" I was trying very hard to conceal my anger and longing. "First of all, you are not my mother, so stop acting like it. Even she didn't speak to me as if I were a child. Second of all, you are only one year older, at the moment, than me and you aren't even considered an adult, so stop treating me as if I didn't know any better. And, third of all," I paused to take in a deep breath, "i only drove your truck because I was worried about YOU. You know how I feel about respecting other people's wishes on top of me already being the world's easiest pushover, so there's really no need for confrontations at the moment!"

I threw my hands up in the air and huffed, trying to control my breathing. It would really suck if I had an asthma attack and died after my biggest winning argument ever. Not the greatest way to celebrate a victory.

I searched in my bag for my pump, my hand grabbing as soon as I felt it, and brought it up to my mouth. I puffed two times and placed it back inside its proper place.

I looked up at Bella. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't hold it any-" I was cut off by her giving me a tight hug as her way of an apology. "It's okay, woser."

She laughed and took a step back, wiping an astray tear from her eye. "Pssh, whatever, punk."

We both laughed at that and I was glad we were back to normal. We stared at each other for a few moments with jaw-cracking grins on our faces before we were both startled by a loud bang.

I turned to the entrance of the kitchen to see Eric enter with a slightly crazed look on his face. "Miss Caffrey, I need you to do a couple of things for me. It is absolutely dire that they be done correctly."

Before I could blink I had a pad in one and a pen in the other. Whoa, where the heck did they come from? I guess it's my subconscious working on me again. Speaking of work...

"Go on," I said, indicating that he should continue.

"Any calls you receive, be they work or otherwise related, do not, I repeat, NOT, answer them. The only time you will even remotely bring that phone close to your ear is if it's my number."

I nodded, but I had a slight problem with that. "But, sir, I don't-"

In a flash he was in front of me, his arms on either side of my body, trapping me to the table. I heard a low growl before he spoke. "Do as I say."

I nodded. What else could I do? I knew, try as he might to deny it, that he was only trying to protect me. It must've been frustrating since he'd never felt the need to help anyone but himself, so the best thing that I could do at this moment was sit down, shut up, and listen. "Good."

I wondered briefly if I had spoken aloud, but then remembered my nodding. I mentally slapped myself. Damn my short attention span. I felt a slight tingle on my cheek, and I realized my slap was a little more than mental. Ignoring the pain, I focused on Eric.

"Next, I want you to take these keys," he didn't even pause from his pacing to throw them out at him, causing me to reach out for them, "and drive to my house. Make sure no one is following you as you do."

Oh, great. Here I thought I had just gotten out of my underaged driving extravaganza. I opened my mouth to remind him of what he, no doubt, heard, but he cut me off with his glare. "Yes, I just heard what your sister said. No, I don't give a fuck what she thinks."

"But, Eric, your house? No one has ever been there before and I don't trust myself to be able to make it without any followers."

He paused in his movements and sighed, bringing a hand up to rub his temple. A very human move. He's been hanging out with me too long. FOCUS! "Frankly, I don't trust them." He shot a look over my shoulder, and I knew for a fact that it was directed at Jasper. I'll talk to him about that later. "Besides, I trust you."

At that moment, everything froze ad the picture before me shattered into millions of crystalline fractured pieces. The three little words that Eric has never said to anyone apart from Pam, let alone to a human, was directed at me. It may not be the three words every girl wants to hear, but from the infamous Eric Northman, it's a colossal step nonetheless.

All of a sudden, it felt like I was rushing up quickly, like I had just jumped into the deep sea and the floaty around my stomach was trying to push me back up to the surface as fast as possible. I was literally shaken out of my thoughts.

"Sky? Skyyyliaaa...?" I met Eric's oceanic blues and I knew I had the goofiest smile on my face. He had a small smile as well, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"If I'm to make it back to Louisiana before dawn I must go now." He said after he knew I was fully back from la-la land. "My day man has everything else under control. You just concern yourself with keeping you safe. Think about rainbows and ponies if you must." He cringed and I could tell it pained him to think about thinking of rainbows and ponies.

I gave a small laugh and said, "Oh Eric, you know I only think about 6'5" blonde vampires and ocean blue eyes."

He offered another smile and this time it lit up his eyes. "See you soon, Lover." He leaned in, and I thought he was going in for the standard forehead kiss, when he changed course at the last second, landing a small peck on my lips.

A flash of a smirk and a small breeze was the only indication I got that he had left. I sat there for about 5 minutes before remembering where I was and turned around to face the audience.

I met Bella's aghast face with a slight sneer of my own. "What? It's not like your precious Edward isn't decades older than you."

She slammed her hand down onto the counter in aggravation. "I can't understand what you're saying!"

That's when the realization hit me. We had been talking in Eric's native tongue the whole time. Heck, I still was. And yet, despite all that, the only thing running through my mind was: When the heck did I learn Old Norse?


	3. Gifts and Consequences

"Uh, um, am I speaking in English now?" Bella's shoulders visibly relaxed and I allowed myself to slump across the table. "I don't even remember learning Old Norse."

"That's the language you were speaking in," Carlisle suddenly exclaimed, "I couldn't figure it out for the death of me."

A giggle escaped me. How ironic. "Yeah, like I said, I don't remember looking at a word of it. All I remember is him yelling at me in some foreign language, me staring at him like he had two heads, and then black." I thought on that for a few moments. Gasping, I bolted up in my chair. "That son of a mother-! He glamoured me into learning it!"

"He did what?" Bella asked.

I shook my head and waved my hands around. "Nothing. It's a night-walker thing." She sent another questioning glance my way and I waved it off with a shake of my head. "Eh, I'll tell you later. Maybe."

Nobody said a word so I just let my eyes drift off in any direction they wished. A flash of black, spiky hair caught my attention and I refocused. I needed to talk to Alice. I thought back to her comment on me and Jasper kissing, and felt my face come ablaze.

"You okay, darlin'? You seem a bit, uh, conflicted." The man of my thoughts ironically broke them, coughing in the middle of his sentence.

"Yeah, it's just, I kinda want to talk to Alice about, ahem, before." I kept my head down, watching as my finger drew nonsensical patterns on the cool, marble counter. "So, may I?" I finally looked up, meeting Alice's gaze.

A soft smile appeared on her face. "Yes, you may." She stressed the word 'may', and I knew she was mocking my way of speaking, showing she wasn't mad anymore. "Besides, now that I've seen you with Mr. Northman, I know you won't go after my Jasper."

I nodded absentmindedly before I realized what I had just agreed with. "Wait, what?" I spluttered. Eric and I, together? Are there pigs flying in a frozen hell?! "Uh, you do realize that he's twice my age in looks and 110 times my actual age? Plus, he's kind of a man-whore—a proud one, at that."

"Hmm, sounds like you've done a lot of research," she said with a smirk. "Have you thought about the possibility in the past?"

"Uh, no..." I said with a slight raise of my eyebrow. "When you work for the guy, you tend to notice these types of things."

"You found the time to work out your age differences."

"Yeah, well, when one gets bored, one does random things." I gave a loud sigh. "I don't even know why I'm trying to explain this to you. You'll probably always have a rebuttal." I looked to Jasper for help when I suddenly got a great idea. "I know! Why don't you ask Jasper? He can tell you what I'm feeling around Eric, right?"

He nodded. "Well. It's mostly aggravation with some admiration mixed in there. It's more like she sees him as some kind of big brother figure."

I nodded vigorously in agreement and blessed his soul for skimming over that teensy-weensy attraction I felt. I mean, come on, you can't judge me. It's a proven fact that Eric is beyond attractive.

"Well, that's disappointing," Alice said, a small frown adorning her face. "By the way, how did you know Jazz's power, let alone that he had one?"

"I've met him before, remember?" I reminded her, acting as if I wasn't notified of that myself just an hour or so before.

"Oh, yeah. How did that go?"

"Well, we didn't speak long enough for me to remember his face, so...well? At least, for you." I shrugged and raised two thumbs up simultaneously.

"Hmm," she said, looking doubtful.

"Plus, the whole 'Sparklepire' thing doesn't really work in my favor, so you've got nothing to worry about."

"By the way," I looked to Edward with awe on my face. Ah, he speaks! "What do you mean by that?"

I coughed. "Well, you know, when you go out into the sun you, uh, sparkle." I desperately tried to contain my laughter. "You sparkle like pretty faeries who put on too much body glitter!" At this point, I couldn't hold my laughter in any more and almost fell off the chair.

"Oh yeah!" Emmett cried out, "I'd like to see that other vampire go out in the sun! He'd probably look just as ridiculous!"

That sobered me up immediately. "If Eric were to go out into the sun, I'd never see him again." I looked into Emmett's eyes so that he'd understand the severity of what he just said. "He'd burn."

"Awe, shit," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"Oh, please. It's okay. Like you said, you didn't know. How could you?" I wiped a stray tear from my eye with a finger, holding it up, the little saltwater ball threatening to fall. When it finally did, I turned my finger to Carlisle. "Which leads me to my next question." I paused for a dramatic effect. "Why don't they?"

"I wasn't informed that I had to tell them after they were turned."

"Well, a little heads-up would have been nice, don't you think?" I said, waving my hands around. "Hey, you're now a vampire, but watch out because there are different types!" I tried to calm myself down. "I don't mean to be rude, but it's protocol, you know?"

"No matter if it's protocol and despite the fact that you just apologized, it is very off-putting for a young lady such as yourself to speak to an elder like that, especially one of Carlisle's age." Edward lectured with a sneer.

"Well, I'm sorry Mr. Medieval Mania, but I already felt bad enough without you and your self-depreciating ways." I snapped. "How old is Carlisle, anyway? Can't be much older than you, I presume."

He looked at me wearily. "How do you know how old I am?"

"Um, you're going to tell me," I said, looking at him as if he were dumb. Which would probably explain the reason why he's just staring at me. I snapped him back into focus. "Dude! Age! I'm not getting any younger here!"

Apparently, he found that comment amusing because he had a smirk as he answered, "173."

I probably looked like the dumb one now as I stared at him, my mouth slightly agape as I waited for him to continue. 173 what? Hundred? Thousand? Heck, 173 million?! Just please don't tell me he's getting cocky for being in the low triple digits! I realized he wasn't going to say any more and I decided to have fun bursting his bubble.

"173? One hundred and seventy-three years?" No, seconds. Of course it was years! Well, at least I know my act had gone over well, for his smirk become impossibly wider.

"I know it's a little hard to comprehend, but you'll get there, I'm sure of it. Don't you work with a vampire?" I nodded. "Hmm, must be recently turned, then."

Keeping my laughter in was hard enough, but seeing Edward's smug face, Carlisle and Jasper also trying to contain their laughs (since they both knew him, they knew Edward's statement was FAR from the truth), and everyone else's lost faces made it impossible.

"Pbfft." One little snort was all it took to break down my wall of resistance, opening the floodgates as my laughter flowed out. "You...you're a...a baby!" I managed to get out.

At his crestfallen look, I laughed even harder. "Wha-? How exactly am I a baby?"

I managed to calm myself down enough to help him. "Compared to the vampires I know, you would be considered a baby. Especially to...Eric Northman!" My laughter started up again at the thought of Eric's reaction to being called 'newly turned'.

By now, everyone except Edward was laughing, though not as hard as Jasper, Carlisle, and I. Edward was getting frustrated. "Just what is so funny?"

"Just that...that you called Eric...ne-newly turned...and he's almost 2...two," I gathered my wits long enough to blurt out, "He's almost two thousand years old!" before I fell off my chair and hit the ground, too busy laughing to feel anything as I started to roll around.

I rolled onto my stomach and started to pound my fists on the ground. After a few seconds, my laughs subsided and I let my body relax, causing me to fall over onto my back. "Whoo, I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time."

Nobody said anything as they all came down from their laughing high. I stared at the ceiling until Eric's ringtone broke the comfortable silence. I shot up like a rocket and immediately regretted it when I saw stars. "Damn head rush," I muttered as I groped around for my cellphone blindly.

My fingers brushed over the rectangular object and I snatched it, pressing 'Send' and bringing it up to my ear. "Northman."

I heard on a sigh on the other end of the line. "How many times are we going to have to discuss this? That's my name."

I rolled my eyes. "And how many times do I have to remind you? You're the one who told me to answer your calls like that." I saw Alice snicker, but I couldn't tell who or what it was directed it.

Hearing his voice reminded me of what had just taken place and I looked over to Edward with a smirk on my face. He looked like someone had just kicked his puppy before taking a bite out of it.

"Sky! SKY!" I was startled out of my thoughts by Eric calling my name and I felt bad for forgetting him.

"Sorry," I said, my word thick with humor. "I was distracted by something." I sent a wink over to Jasper and Carlisle before turning around and leaning on the counter.

"I hope you aren't as easily distracted when driving the 'vette."

"WHAT?!"

I ran out of the kitchen and to the front door, my eyes desperately seeking out the tell-tale cherry red car. I couldn't find it, so I went back to the kitchen and picked up the keys. I could tell everyone was curious and my suspicions were confirmed when they followed me outside.

I pressed the unlock button and saw the lights go off, illuminating the Corvette."Oh my god," I breathed, "I can't believe you left me with the 'vette."

"Like I said, I trust you."

"Yes, but with your baby?!" My voice got quite frantic at the end, scaring a few birds out of the trees.

I heard a deep chuckle on the other end. "I know you'll take very good care of it."

"Bu-but, bu-bu-but butbut..." I felt calm wash over me in waves before a comforting hand was placed on my shoulder. I started to breathe evenly.

"Breathe Sky," I looked up and saw Jasper's calming eyes. I instantly felt even better.

"Thanks Jazz."

I heard a growling in my ear. "Oh, what are you growling about over there, mister?"

"Nothing. Just get out of there as fast as you can and do it safely." I heard a rustling sound and slight cursing.

"Are you okay?" I heard a grunt in response. "Eric, you need to stop calling me while you're in flight. You know how worried I get and with good reason."

I felt my hand get colder than normal, and I realized I had grabbed Jasper's hand in a well-needed moment of comfort. I didn't bother letting go, but instead grip tighter until I was sure Eric was okay.

"My apologies, Lover. I'm about to take flight so, drive safe."

"Fly safe." I managed to sigh before the busy tone came on, indicating the end of the call.

"Ugh, I don't know what to do with him sometimes." I remembered just whose hand I'd been clinging on to desperately and suddenly shot myself away from him, backing up until I quite literally hit the house.

My phone buzzed in my hand, and, startled, I threw it up before catching it in mid-air. Pressing the unlock button, I saw that I had one new message. Opening it, I read:

_Lover, do not fret about the car. It is not mine anymore, but yours. Don't worry about the costs. However, you will need to pay me a dollar to avoid that pesky gift tax. The plans have changed. You will be staying with the Cullens, seeing as your father still believes you're in Louisiana. Don't ask me how, but that doctor is surprisingly convincing. And no, I was not in flight during the duration of these messages. See you soon, Eric._

I was frozen. I barely registered my phone fall out of my hand and onto the floor as I stood there, gaping. What the heck just happened? Eric just sold me a car for $1 AND was miraculously convinced by someone other than himself? Is the end near?

I slowly walked to the Corvette, my hand stretched out towards it. My fingertips buzzed in anticipation until they were finally soothed by the cool surface. "Wow..." I breathed.

"What?! He gave you the car?!" I heard Bella screech in the background. I turned to see her in my previous spot, my discarded phone in her hands. "And you're staying here?"

I shrugged dumbly; I honestly couldn't answer either of those questions, my brain was mush. It solidified slightly as Carlisle walked into my line of sight.

"How did you convince the 'mighty' Eric Northman?" I asked, making air quotes. "Even I can't do that! Yet."

He chuckled and jerked his head to the side, motioning for me to walk with him into the house. When I reached him, he said, "When you mention someone you care about's safety, you can convince almost anyone."

I nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see..." I stopped walking in the middle of the living room. "But, wait. I don't want to impose or anything. Are you sure this is okay?"

His sudden laughter cut my worry short. "Sky, have you already forgotten that I was the one that offered?"

"Well, yes, but what about everyone else?" I watched through my peripherals as everyone filed back into the house.

"I'm pretty sure they're all okay with it. And if not," he leaned in closer, dropping his voice into a whisper, "Well, they're just going to have to deal with it."

I let out a small giggle to his smirk, avoiding eye-contact with the rest because I knew the had heard him, with the exception of Bella.

"Thanks Carlisle."

He straightened back up and ruffled the top of my head. "No problem." He turned to walk away before I called out to him.

"Um, Carlisle?" I shifted under his gaze, embarrassed by what I was about to ask. "Do you mind if I call you Doc? I'm kind of a nickname person."

"Hmm..." I slowly looked up at him and saw that he was wearing a thoughtful look. His face broke into a smile. "I suppose...if I get to call you Peanut in return."

"Peanut?!" I asked, incredulously. "Is that a stab at my size?" I cracked a smile at my unintended joke. "Hah, get it?"

He laughed in recognition and I heard a snort from behind me. "Cornball's more like it."

"Oh, shut up Bella." I said, rolling my eyes. "You know you love my jokes, corny or not. And most of the time, they're not." I sent a glare her way.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Edward cleared his throat and shifted slightly towards the door with Bella in tow. "Come on, I best be getting you home."

"Yes, you best be." I quipped. Bella sent me a look and I quickly followed up with, "You don't want dad shooting him the minute he walks through the door and then have to explain why bullets are bouncing off of him like erasers."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Erasers, Sky?"

"What? It was the first thing that popped into my head." I looked away for a few seconds before looking back to see her still standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. "What are you still doing here? Leave already, woman!"

With a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes, she said a quick goodbye to everybody. She turned and walked towards the front door. "Bye, brat."

"Later, loser." I shot back.

With that, she was gone. Well, almost. In the next few seconds, she walked back through the door. "Don't forget what I told you earlier. I know why you said what you said, but please heed my warning. I don't want you getting hurt. I love you."

"Bella! Of course I know that! I was only kidding around." Her eyebrow rose. "Okay, fine. I wasn't kidding, but at least I'm not gonna call him that anymore." Higher it went. Sighing, I hold a hand up. "Look, I promise not to call your boyfriend Edweird or Stickward, okay?"

Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "WHAT?! I didn't know you called him that! But I do know that I'm gonna hold you to that, so you better keep it."

Completely ignoring everything she just exclaimed, I asked, "Wait, that wasn't who you were talking about? Then, who..?"

She shook her head, her eyes wide. "Noooo, I was talk about the," she paused, waiting for me to mentally fill in the blank. "You know, the..." She quickly mouthed the letters to me and I caught on.

"Ohhh, hiiiiiim." My lips stretched into a smirk as I drew out my words. "Well, I can't make any promises on that one." I looked off dreamily and quickly moistened my drying lips. I looked back to her, my smirk never faltering. "I'll try not to let it slip, but when it does, the best I could do is hope to God that he doesn't know what it means."

Sensing that I wasn't going to back down on this, she sighed and brought her hand up to her temple. "I hope for your sake you know what you're doing."

I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at me. "I don't, but isn't that what makes it fun?" I looked out into the night behind her, knowing Edward was waiting. "Methinks the lady best beith on her way now."

"Oh, that's actually what I came in here for," she said, ignoring me and my kooky ways, "you have my car keys."

"Ah, yes, I believe I do." I reached into my back pocket and pulled them out, placing them in her hand. "Now, go, milady. Your chariot awaits!" I pulled her down the stairs slightly.

"Bella?" She turned towards me. "Thanks." She gave a small smile and walked away. "Oh, and Bella?" She stopped and turned around again, looking slightly agitated. "I love you, too." Her agitation melted away and her face broke into a smile. She didn't move for a few seconds. "You really need to go now."

"Right." This time, she walked a little faster, possibly to get away from me and my talkativeness. I watched as she miraculously made it it to the car without tripping and drove away.

I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms. Looking up into the sky at the brightly shining moon, I sighed. Seeing as I was a night owl, and the Cullens don't sleep, I knew I had a long night ahead of me.

I sighed one more time before turning around and walking into the house. Closing the door, I leaned against it.

I thought back to yesterday night when I snuck into Bella's room through the window for a little chat. We talked—well, I fawned over and she just shook her head—about a certain Dr. DILF and how much trouble that would be. Now that I was living with him, well...

"Ugh," I whined, throwing my head back against the door. "I am so screwed!"

I froze. Bringing my head slowly, I was met with the faces of four concerned vampires. "Pssh, not literally! I mean, ha, are you crazy?" I looked around and saw the kitchen to be the nearest exit. "You silly, silly vampires." I waved my hands around, inching closer to my destination. "Uhm, if you'll excuse me." Deciding to just damn it all, I ran the rest of the way.

A flash of the blonde hair that I was not expecting to see sent my heart pummeling into my chest. Combined with the fact that I had just banged my funny bone on the doorframe on the way in, I let out a loud shriek. "Holy mother of freakin' flapjacks!" I exclaimed, rubbing my sore elbow. "You scared the crapola out of me, Carlisle."

"I'm deeply sorry, Peanut." I could tell he was trying not to laugh as I pathetically tried to soothe the ache. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, actually, do you mind getting me some ice?" I hopped up on the island when an obvious thought occurred to me. "Duh." I saw him staring expectantly at me. "Your hand is colder than any ice, so would it be okay if you just, you know...?"

I trailed off as the words finished tumbling out of my mouth. The realization of what I just asked, mixed with the look on his face made me feel like I was the dumbest person on the face of the earth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." I made to slide off the counter when I suddenly felt a breeze and a force pushing me back.

I was suddenly staring into deep topaz eyes. Wow, they were beautiful. He chuckled and moved the hair out of my face. "Unless you speak ill of my family's nature, you could never offend me. And, thank you."

Huh? I just stared at him as he placed his cool hand on my arm. "You're welcome..?"

He gave a small chuckle as he looked back up and I, once again, lost myself in his eyes. "I believe I was thanking you for the compliment regarding my eyes."

"Oh." I felt my face heat up as my senses came back to me. "Oh!" I reclined slightly away from his touch, desperately trying to cover up my reddening face. "I-! You weren't supposed to hear that!" At his raised eyebrow, I clarified. "I mean, I didn't mean to say it out loud!"

I tried my damnednest to avoid his gaze, my hands flitting all over my face, until I felt two cold blocks still my movement. I was frozen in my spot as the two frozen cubes led a trail down my back.

I stared at him in disbelief as he smirked devilishly at me. "Car-LISLE!" I jerked violently into his arms as the cubes reached the lowest point of my back.

I panted heavily as I supported myself on his shoulders. His arms came to wrap around on each side of me, his hands resting on the counter. "You okay there, Peanut?"

I pushed myself up so that we were face-to-face, but left my hands resting on his shoulders. "You are an evil, evil man, Doc." I squinted at him, trying to keep my face straight, but couldn't help the smirk that flitted across my face.

"Oh, I highly doubt that," he drawled.

I raised an eyebrow and opened my mouth to speak. "Are you serious?"

I raised my eyebrow higher. I twisted slightly to the right. "That wasn't my voice..."

"No kidding."

"What the mother-?!" I swerved around, catching the sight of Rosalie with her arms crossed before falling onto Carlisle. I felt a sharp pain in my neck and groped around for the ice cubes blindly, as my face was pressed into his shoulder. "You're a suckish doctor."

I felt the rumble of his chest before his laughter tumbled out of his mouth. "Don't blame me."

"Oh, I blame you." I pushed myself up and rubbed the ice cubes over my neck, sending a glare his way. "Who else am I to blame? Last time I checked, ice cubes didn't magically grow legs and acquaint themselves with people's backs!"

"Wow, Sky, you really get around."

I looked over to my left and saw the rest of the family, a condescending look upon Alice's face. "I'm sorry, what?"

At that moment, Edward walked in. "What are you doing with my father?" He gave me a weird look, probably trying to read my thoughts. I felt something prodding at my mind.

"Why are you trying to read my thoughts?" He looked shocked. "Oh please, I used to live with a telepath. I know all of your mind tricks." I paused. "Heh, mind tricks... Oh gosh, I really am corny!"

By this point, the ice was already slightly melted in my hands. Spotting a sink behind Carlisle, I made to throw it in. "And I still don't know what you're talking about." Hearing the tell-tale metallic 'clink', I gave a victorious fist pump.

Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Like you really don't know you're wrapped around Daddy Dearest like a coil."

I gave a small, nervous chuckle. "Heh, no, I'm not. See, I'm merely sitting on the coun-" I looked down and saw that I was not placed on the counter anymore. Instead, I had both of my legs wrapped around his waist as my hands and arms were resting loosely on his shoulders. He supported with one hand behind my back and one underneath my bottom.

I looked at Carlisle and got lost in his eyes for the third time... Oh my goodness, I'm in Dr. DILF's arms~ I'm in Dr. DILF's arms~ But wait! It kinda makes me look sluttish, or a home wrecker. I'm not a home wrecker! Oh no, what is Bella going to think when she finds out?! Well, it's not like I did anything...so I shouldn't feel bad! Yeah! So I'm just gonna sit here in his arms and think—oh shizz! Thinking! Edward! Thoughts! And Edward sounds like...Esme! Yeeee, this is an ugly situation.

"Her emotions are going haywire. I don't know if she's having an epiphany or a heart attack."

"From what I saw, she looks as if she's about to implode."

"Her thoughts are going in all different directions. I can't seem to get a grasp on one." Oh, thank god. "I heard that."

"She was making pretty funny faces." I heard a sound like rock on rock. "Ouch, Rose, really?"

"Guys, could you please stop talking as if she weren't here?" The rumble of his chest jolted me out of my thoughts.

"Skylia!"

"I'm not doing nothing!" I jumped, letting go of Carlisle in the process. His hold on me was firm and all I did was hang there like a rag doll until he slowly let me down. Making sure I was steady, Carlisle gave me one final pat on the shoulder and walked over to Esme, who had just walked in.

"Well, a grammar Nazi like you coming up with a sentence like that, one has to wonder."

"Well, I just... With the doorframe, and the elbow, and the cold, and the ice cubes having a party with my back, and the scaring—it's enough to make me a bit confuzzled."

She stood there with her hands on her hips, looking at me disbelievingly. "Mmhmm, so! I'm going to pretend I understood what you just said and," she looked up in thought, "kill you now." She nodded as if to confirm her declaration and turned a glare on me.

"What?! But I didn't do anything wrong!" I slowly made my way to the opposite side of the island. "I had gotten hurt!" I saw a clear doorway and chose it as my scape goat.

"Well, I'm gonna hurt you some more!"

I broke into a run towards the door, finding that it led into the living room. Spotting a rug on the floor, I ran to it, knowing that Bella was clumsy enough to trip over it. Sure enough, as soon as I had gotten near the end of the rug, I heard a shriek and a thump. Unfortunately, she fell backwards, pushing the rug with her feet, causing me to go down as well.

"Oof!" I landed hard on my stomach and rolled slightly to capture the breath I had just lost. I shot up on my knees quickly, but before I could go anywhere, someone had grabbed my hand and started pulling on it. "Mercy, mercy! I give!"

She gave one final tug before letting me go, causing me to fall forward onto my face. "Ousssh." Pushing myself up, I was met with the sight of two legs. Looking up, I saw crossed arms and the disapproving face of Edward. Sneering, I thought, who are you, my father?

He glared harshly. Oh, please. I dropped my head, letting it loll about my shoulders. "You know what? I'm going to bed."

I pushed myself off of the floor and headed for the other side of the couch. I rolled my eyes when I saw that Edward had moved back next to Bella. I looked down at the couch and nodded in approval. "Hmm..."

"Wait," Bella pleaded as I sat on the couch, "Don't let her head hit the pil-"

Black.


	4. Awakening

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything recognized.**

**Enjoy!**

I woke up to the opening bars of "Ode to Joy" playing softly in the background. I rolled over and settled back into the same spot. After a few seconds, I turned back around.

I threw the covers over my head and dug my face further into the pillow. "Urgh, can someone please turn that off?!"

"My room, my rules."

Hmph. Couldn't argue with that. "Okay," I shrugged. I was in the midst of falling back into that black oblivion when my brain caught up with me.

"Wait, room..?" I managed to croak out. I tried to peek out from under the covers, but had to shield myself from the blinding sunlight. "You know what, forget it. I don't care." I snuggled back into the sheets and tried to fall back asleep.

"Oh, no you don't."

The heavy down comforter was thrown off of me and I started shivering immediately. I felt two cold hands grab my arms and life me up. I hung limply in their arms.

"Come on, Sky. It's time for you to get up." I mumbled something incoherent to my ears and made no motion to wake up and move. "Sky, it's already 1:30 in the afternoon." Whaaaaat? That's it?

"Alright, I'm gonna have to do this the hard way." I felt an arm under my knees and one behind my back before I felt myself flying. I was placed on a chair where I slumped over onto a conveniently placed cold, hard surface, my arms splayed above my head. "Darn, I was sure that would have worked."

The cooling sensation felt nice on my cheek and I yearned for more. I climbed up onto the surface and rolled onto my back. I was grateful to whoever changed my clothes as my tank top and shorts allowed various areas of my body to be caressed by the cold. "Mmmm, feels so good..." I squirmed around, causing my shirt to ride up, no doubt exposing my stomach.

I heard someone enter the kitchen and knew it was Bella. "What's going on here?" The source of the voice moved from around my head to my feet and I heard the fridge open.

"Do you have any idea how to wake her up?"

"Oh, sheesh. She's still sleeping." She paused and I assumed it was to take a sip of her drink. "Then again, she did once sleep for 24 hours." I heard noises and I could only assume it was her stumbling her way to me when I sensed a presence by my side. "There is one sure fire way to wake her up, are you sure you want to know?"

"N...o..." I managed to grumble out, desperately trying to move my head side-to-side, only succeeding to have it fall to one side and no move again.

"I wasn't asking you! So, Carlisle? What'll it be?"

I heard him sigh. "If you must. Unless it's something embarrassing, so maybe I should get one of the gir-"

"No, no, no, no. You already agreed to this. You sealed your fate, so let's do this." I sensed something hovering above my waist. "You do know you're gonna have to do this when I'm not around, right?"

"Why do I have a strange feeling I'm going to regret this?"

"Hmm, because you might..." I felt her place the tip of her thumbs at my hipbones, one on each side, but I still didn't budge. "You might wanna come a bit closer. Get an idea of what you're going to have to do."

Suddenly, she dragged her fingertips across my stomach, stopping as they met each other in the middle. My stomach fluttered and I let out a giggle. She did it a few more times until I finally woke up enough to gain control over my arms, smacking hers away.

"See? That's all it takes." I hadn't moved, nor had I opened my eyes as I began to fall back asleep. "Why don't you try it?"

I jumped slightly as I felt his cold fingertips move back and forth across my stomach. Soon enough, I was smacking my hands around and kicking my legs out.

"Okay, okay I'm up!" I reached out for his arms and grabbed them, trying to make them still. He stopped moving, and, using the leverage I had, lifted myself up. Opening my eyes, I had to jerk back because all that was in my line of sight was the color gold. "Uh, morning...?"

His laughter shook his whole body, which, in turn, shook mine. "Please, if this is what you consider the morning, I want to know what the early hours of the day mean to you."

"Uh, nighttime?"

"You really are an odd one, aren't you?"

"Ah, I suppose so." I let go of his hands and fell back onto what I had learned to be the island counter, and ran my hands through my hair. "This does really feel good..." I turned back over so that the front of my body was now in contact with the cold surface.

"Oh, no you don't! Not again!" I felt two arms wrap around my waist and lift me off the counter. I squirmed in his arms, letting out a little 'eep!'. "Oh sheesh, you're such a child."

Augh! The nerve! I crossed my arms just above his and made a stomping motion with my foot. "I am NOT childish!"

"Righhhht..." He set me down on the ground, and I turned around to face him.

"I-" All of a sudden, I felt pressure just beneath my belly. "-really need to go to the bathroom." I ran out into the living room and saw everyone sitting around on the various couches, when I realized something. I ran back into the kitchen. "I don't know where your bathroom is!"

Carlisle started laughing so hard he had to grab the edge of the counter. "This is not the time to be laughing, I'm gonna pee my pants!" He couldn't say anything, he was still laughing too hard. "What? Do you need me to speak in doctor lingo? I need to get to a bathroom, stat!"

"..."

"D'oh, you're useless!" I ran back out into the living room and stuck my tongue out at the laughter. "Yeah, yeah. Make fun of the one who has needs!"

I started hopping from side to side, putting pressure to stop the flow. I finally gave up and doubled over, one hand resting on the couch between Bella and Edward's heads.

"It's not fun being on the other end of the stick, huh?"

"Oh, shut up, you!" I looked up to glare at her. Just then, an idea struck me. "Heyyy, you know where the bathroom is, right?"

She smiled and faced forward. "I might, but then again, I might not be the best person to ask. I still don't know my way around."

"What do you mean?" I ask with genuine curiosity. "It's not like you've only been here for...a...day..." I saw her smirk as realization dawned upon me. "Sheesh, it's only been ONE DAY?! It sure as heck doesn't feel like it!"

She snorted. "Of course it would feel like it was longer to you. Like Alice said, you sure do get around."

Ouch. I sighed and turned around. Leaning on the couch, I slid to the ground and flinched. Thinking back on what happened yesterday, I closed my eyes and rested my head on my folded knees. God, I still can't believe what I did. I'm such an idiot.

I felt a warm, comforting hand on my head, stilling my body. I hadn't even realized I was shaking. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I know it was all an accident."

I lifted my head and opened my eyes, which did no good since they were blurred with oncoming tears. "That doesn't make me feel any better! I still feel insanely horrible!" I heard a few gasps and I assumed it was from smelling the tears that were now trickling down my face.

I let the tears flow freely down my face as I stared at the opposite wall. It was a few moments before I heard an all too familiar voice.

"It's about time I get you to that bathroom, huh?" I looked up at him, his brightly shining smile fading as he took in my face. It quickly turned concerned and he took a step forward. "Peanut, are you okay?"

The movement and his voce startled me out of whatever slump I had been in and jolted into action. I shot up and headed toward the stairs. "You know, I think I'll go look for it myself." I took the stairs two at a time and, reaching the top, took a sharp turn to the right, bumping myself on the rounded banister end.

"Mother cracker!" I looked up and saw Esme headed in my direction. Is everyone out to get me today?!"

"Dear, are you alright?" she asked, no doubt seeing the tears.

I backed away from her outstretched hand and managed to sob, "Just peachy!" before turning around and running in the opposite direction. I ran until I couldn't anymore and entered the room to my right.

I quickly shut the door behind me as my eyes flit across the room, trying to figure out where I had just entered. I barely registered the fact that it was a bedroom when I saw another door, slightly ajar. It seemed as if it was backlit by the sun, making it appear holy. To me, it truly was holy, and I could almost hear the angel choir.

A bathroom!

I ran to it and pushed the door closed behind me. Taking a moment to praise the porcelain god before me, I quickly got down to business. I sighed as I was finally relieved of my 'heavy' burden. Finishing, I washed my hands and looked in the mirror.

Grimacing, I reached up and placed my hand on the crown of my head. Moving it back and forth slowly, I gradually built up the pace until the brown locks moved with the motion. Now that it was loosened, I was able to pluck the wig off of my head and let my real hair fall down. I watched as the cotton candy pink, pin-straight hair fell to my waist.

Sighing, I ran my fingers through the top of my head, scratching as I did so. "Ugh, I hate pink, but I don't really want to dye my hair." Grasping the edges of the sink, I leaned down on my hands and sighed again. "Now that I think about it," I turned to the slightly ajar door, giving it a skeptical look; the knob was pink, "isn't this whole bathroom?"

I spun around and froze as I took in the room I was currently standing in. Pink. Everything was covered in pink. Pink rugs, pink toilet seat cover, pink shower curtain, pink walls, pink door-picking my jaw up off the floor, I turned back around-pink sink! "Oh dear lord, help me."

I backed away from the sink and made a break for it. Throwing the door open, I ran out of the room and into the hallway. I took off toward the stairs, running down them. "Who's the creep with the pink bathroom, and I'm talking to myself..." I walked into the living room and found it was no longer occupied.

"Evidently the same person who has pink hair."

"Ugh, evidently," I said, tugging at the ends of my hair, "I HATE pink!" I turned around and saw the whole clan at the top of the stairs. "Where'd you guys come from?"

Emmett snorted. "And here I thought you were smart?" I raised an eyebrow but let him continue. "See, when a mommy and a daddy love each other much-" He ducked out of the path of the oncoming pillow.

"Thank you, fake Doctor Emmett."

Alice snickered slightly. "We were in the bedroom, silly. By the way, that was my bathroom you insulted." I felt my ears heat up and I saw Jasper tense up slightly.

"I-uh, well, I mean-. It's a very nice bathroom and all, but it's just, uh. Well, I-I believe that it's a bit too pink for me... Uh, yeah." My hands were sore from all the wringing, and my gaze shifted from the floor to her and back.

"Aw, sweetie. It's okay." In a flash, she was next to and hugging me. "I would take you shopping to make up for it, but I see this pink hair of yours is punishment enough."

"Ohhh, please stop reminding me!" I ruffled my hair, desperately wishing it was a different color. I froze when I realized something. "Did you say shopping?!" I grabbed the arm that was still wrapped around my waist and bounced lightly on the soles of my feet. "I wanna go! I wanna go!"

Alice was suddenly in front of me, her eyes wild. Grabbing my hands, she jumped up and down with me. "Oh my goodness, we should, right?"

"Yeah!" I could just imagine how I looked at the moment: wide-eyed and jaw-splitting grin, jumping up and down like a crazed lunatic. I felt quite sorry for tricking Alice, so I slowed my jumps. Eventually, we came to a stop, and I looked up shyly at her. "Uhm, Alice..."

It was no use. Her mouth was going a mile a minute, ranging in topics from clothes to shoes, make-up to beauty products, which, frankly, makes no difference to me, with no signs of stopping. I looked desperately over to Jasper, pleading with my eyes and emotions to chill his wife out. Nodding, he sent a wave of calm toward us, causing Alice to cease her talking. Unfortunately, I was already calm and the wave of emotion was strong, it sent me swaying on to my knees.

Suddenly, Jasper was by my side, helping me to my feet. "My apologies, ma'am."

I sent a sarcastic smile in his direction and said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know you did it on purpose. Otherwise, you would have just sent it to Alice. Speaking of," I turned back to her and took her hands in mine once again. "I'm really sorry I got you all riled up like that, but sweetie, I was just kidding."

At her crestfallen look, I was heartbroken. The light in her eyes dissipated, making me feel crappy for ever joking around with her about that. "You were just...joking?"

Well actually, I was being sarcastic. Evidently, sarcasm is a foreign language to you. "Yeah," I said, ignoring Edward's laughter, "I didn't know it meant so much to you. I only treated you like I do Bella."

"Which means..." I saw her face break into a smile and I felt mine fall into a grimace as we realized what my actions had entailed. "You think of me...as a sister?"

"Well, I-I didn't say that now," I responded shakily, backing away with my arms out in front of me. As if that would help. I kept backing up until I hit the slightly raised floor where the piano rested, stumbling in the process. "Hold on, now. Let's think this whole thing through!"

"I'm so excited!" She jumped at me at the exact same moment I tripped over the step, causing her to fly over me and onto the ground. I hurriedly got up and rushed over, helping her to her feet.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" At her raised eyebrow, I retorted, "Stupid question, but it's still nice to be polite, no?"

She laughed. "Yes, I suppose." She gave me a bone-crushing hug and I decided to just let myself melt into it, hugging her with equal force. Well, as equal as it could possibly get.

"I hate to be the one to break up all of the bonding, but I believe it's time for the girls to eat." I looked over to the source of the voice and saw Esme standing a few feet away, her hands clasped in front of her.

Deciding it didn't want my guilt creeping back up, my stomach let out a loud growl. Breaking away from the hug, I laughed. "You're right! All of the shenanigans have me starved!"

"Add that to the fact that your last meal was 17 hours ago, I wouldn't be surprised if you finished an entire mountain lion."

Sparing a glance at Edward, I scowled. Who are you, my mother? I walked passed him and into the kitchen, missing his reaction. Spotting my phone by the sink, I rushed over to it. Unlocking it, I found I had five missed calls and three new text messages.

Rolling my eyes, I checked my calls and sure enough, they were all from Eric. The timing ranged from midnight to dawn this morning. Making my way over to the table, I checked my first message.

_~Miss Caffrey, something urgent has come up, and I need you to answer the phone immediately._

Woah, what happened? Sitting down at the table, I opened the second message.

_~Miss Caffrey, if you do not answer the phone, I might have to take drastic measures. You must answer your phone immediately or I will fire you._

No! Don't fire me! I need my job! I looked around the table and noticed the odd stares they were giving me. Urgh, I really need to learn to keep my thoughts inside. A bowl of cereal was placed in front of me and I lifted a spoon to my mouth as I read the last message.

_~Please, Sky. I need you right now and I don't know what else to do or who else to call. I'm what you would call, 'flipping out'. Please._

The spoon practically fell out of my mouth by the time I finished reading the message. What the crap was going on?! I shook my head slightly and made to put my phone away when it started vibrating. Clicking the send button and bringing another spoonful to my mouth, I said:

"Yo."

"_Will you answer your goddamn phone calls?!"_

"I just did, didn't I?"

"_You know what I mean, you spoiled little brat."_

Rolling my eyes I responded, "Listen, you pig-headed jerk. Just because he's yelling at you, it certainly doesn't make it okay for you to yell at me." I took another spoonful into my mouth. "Anyway, do you have any idea what he could possibly be talking about?"

"_No, I don't. Every time he calls, all he does is mutter about you needing to pick up your phone and something about Texas."_

Texas... Oh crap! "Oh jeez, I need to call him!"

"_No kidding. But how can you do that? It's still light out."_

"No shit, Sherlock. You know, for a bright person, you don't use your common sense much. I'm going to call him when the sun goes down." I honestly didn't want to hear him speak so I cut him off with a, 'Bye!', and hung up.

I knew they were staring at me and without looking up I said, "Don't look at me, it's nothing." I lifted the final bits to my mouth, drank the last of the milk, and got up to place my bowl in the sink.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go."

"No, I don't wanna gooooo..." I whined, clinging on to whatever was closest to me. "You can't make me."

"I wasn't talking about me and you; I was talking about me and Edward." She shook her head unbelievingly. "I wouldn't be surprised if you had already forgotten that you can't go home. And let go of Esme!"

I sprang my arms wide open and took two big steps back. "Whoops, my bad."

She gave a lighthearted laugh. "No worries, my dear."

Ohoho, if only you knew what I was thinking about your husband on a daily basis... I had a face splitting grin on, to hide the fact that I was thinking impurely at the moment.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

I moved my grin to Bella's direction, my right eye twitching. "You bet."

"Well, I say stop," She took a second to take in the state of my face, "before you twitch yourself into a spontaneous combustion."

I immediately loosened my face and turned toward Carlisle. "That can't actually happen, can it, Doc?"

He chuckled and walked over, placing his arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer to his side. Shaking his head, he looked down at me and said, "It's quite possible."

My arms around his waist tightened. Whoa, when had they gotten there? "What?"

"I'm just kidding, Peanut." Taking his free hand, he lifted it to my head and ruffled my hair. "Maybe you should take a chill pill."

Time seemed to freeze for all of five seconds at those words coming out of Carlisle's mouth. "What now?"

"What? Why is everyone looking at me so bewildered?"

"Oh, I don't know, because it's weird?" Alice finally spoke up.

"Why is it weird?" He looked around the room; I suppose waiting for the answers to be spoken, but apparently it was written on all of our faces for he continued. "I know I've acted like a father figure for all these years, but don't forget that I'm only 23."

That made sense, I suppose. "Okay, yeah, I understand that, but where did you hear it? As far as I know, I'm the only one who says things like that."

"Believe it or not, that's where I heard it from."

"Huh?"

"It was one of the days I visited Louisiana to speak with the Sheriff-"

I cut him off with a laugh. "Pssh, Sheriff..." He looked down disapprovingly. "Ahem, I'm sorry."

He cleared his throat. "Thank you. Anyway, as I was talking with the _Sheriff_ on stage, I heard Ms. DeBeaufort criticizing you on things Mr. Northman would have disapproved of. Then, I distinctly heard you say, and I quote, 'What is his major malfunction? He needs to take a freakin' chill pill!'"

I thumped my head into his chest. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes," he laughed, "and I believe you came waltzing in shortly after."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. However, I don't recall seeing you there."

"Well, I was on my way out. Perhaps I left too quick for your eyes to see." I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed, continuing. "I also remember thinking to myself, 'This girl has got some guts on her if she knows that who she's talking about is within hearing range.' And then I realized that you were just a sweet girl whom Eric miraculously and mysteriously has a soft spot for." He looked back down at me. "Any ideas why?"

I giggled. "I'm just that lovable." He raised an eyebrow. "Alright, alright, you got me. I put a powerful spell on him." I twiddled my fingers and made an attempt to cackle like an evil witch. It failed miserably.

"Oh, I bet," Carlisle managed to laugh out.

I turned back to Bella. Before I got a chance to say anything, she spoke up. "Oh, you remembered us. I was beginning to worry there for a moment."

"Urgh..." I rolled my eyes. "That was one time. And I promised it wouldn't ever happen again." She crossed her arms and rested all of her weight on one foot. "Oh please, can you honestly say it has?"

She thought for a moment before finally agreeing. "Okay, you're right. But I never know with you sometimes."

"Yeah, sorry... Anyway! Did you happen to finally leave last night? The last thing I remember before falling asleep was you finding me in a compromising position, which then led to chasing, when I distinctly remember handing you your keys for you to be outie." I took one big, deep breath. "Wow, long sentence."

"Yeah, I was on my way home when Alice called and said that she had spoken to Charlie to see if I could sleep over. She wanted me here to keep an eye on you, and with good reason, too!" She looked at me condescendingly and I realized Carlisle and I were still hugging.

Paying no mind to it, I simply shrugged and stepped out of his grasp inconspicuously, walking over to her. "There's nothing more to worry about. What could I possibly do?"

"Oh, shall I count the ways? I honestly feel bad for the Cullens now that you're living here with them. You are quite the handful."

"Oh, yeah? Well, at least I'm not a walking disaster!"

"That's what you think." She stretched her arms above her head, popping her shoulders as she did so. "I really must be going. Dad is expecting me any minute now, I shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Oh, alright. If you really must go."

She started to walk toward the door with Edward. Before she left she stopped, turning around to say, "Say hi to your other sister for me, will you?"

"Wait a minute, what makes you think I'm going to see her?"

"Well, something's going on with your boss, right?" I nodded. "Well, whatever is up with him will, no doubt, include her because of her telepathy. Plus, he hardly goes anywhere without you, so you're bound to see each other." She came over and hugged me. "It's common sense, silly."

I hugged her tighter. "I'm so happy to see you get along with each other, I wouldn't know what to do if my sisters hated one another."

"Well, then, it's a good thing we're both so understanding." She leaned out of the hug. "Besides, we have to cooperate in order to take on our squirt of a little sister." She made a fist, smooshing it into the top of my head.

"Riiiiight." I said, swatting her hand away. "Well, then, bye big sis!"

"See you, squirt!" And with that, she was gone.


End file.
